Now that the trade deadline drama is over, the New York Rangers look to secure a playoff spot and begin a deep run into the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Saturday`s 4-0 shutout over the St. Louis Blues was the New York Rangers’ most dominating performance. The Blueshirts have 19 games remaining on their schedule to get their line combinations and defense pairings in order while fending off the surging Carolina Hurricanes, who are just two points behind the first-place Rangers.
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The Breakdown
The club has 11 home and eight road games, beginning with Monday’s game against the New Jersey Devils at MSG.
With a home record of 22-8-0, the Rangers must take advantage of home ice to add more points to the standings. The Road Warrior Blueshirts’ road record is 19-10-4, and they will need to build on that if they desire to win the President Trophy as the league’s league’s best team in the regular season, which includes home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs.
Ten of the team’s final 19 games are against teams in playoff position as of Monday morning. The playoff position standings now include the New York Islanders, who won in Anaheim on Sunday night, leapfrogging them over the Detroit Red Wings.
Remaining Home Games
Mar. 11 – New Jersey Devils Apr. 1 – Pittsburgh Penguins Apr. 15 – Ottawa Senators
Mar. 17 – NY Islanders Apr. 3 – New Jersey Devils
Mar. 19 – Winnipeg Jets Apr. 7 – Montreal Canadiens
Mar. 23 – Florida Panthers Apr. 11 – Philadelphia Flyers
Mar. 26 Philadelphia Flyers Apr. 13 – New York Islanders
Remaining Road Games
Mar. 12 – Carolina Hurricanes Mar. 28 – Colorado Avalanche Apr. 9 – New York Islanders
Mar. 14 – Tampa Bay Lightning Mar. 30 – Arizona Coyotes
Mar. 16 – Pittsburgh Penguins Apr. 5 – Detroit Red Wings
Mar. 21 – Boston Bruins Apr. 7 – Montreal Canadiens
Aside from January, when the Rangers lost nine games, the team has had a great season, already reaching 41 wins and 86 points. Most hockey fans know that the real season begins when the regular season ends.
Peter Laviolette has made it known that he wants the 82-game regular season to prepare for the playoffs start, a marathon to be the first to win 16 games.
With the addition of Chad Ruhwedel, Alex Wennberg, and Jack Roslovic, Chris Drury did what he thought was best to make this team competitive for a playoff run.
Now, it lies in the hands of Laviolette and the players to get the job done.
Follow Frank on X at @RangerProud.
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